Entertainment
Acting Like You Care Is As Important As The Real Thing
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
It’s 2026 and everything sucks. The cost of living has gone up exponentially, and quality of life has dipped right along with it. Lines are longer, everything is automated, nobody’s paid enough to care, and I don’t blame them. When you’re stuck renting from people who treat the concept of a home as an investment opportunity, don’t have a lawn to call your own, and pay a third of your income in taxes before getting taxed again on every purchase, it’s really easy to stop caring. After all, what’s the point? The average person can’t get ahead, and when they do, some medical emergency or unexpected financial hurdle sets them back three years.
It’s really easy to not care. But here’s the counterpoint nobody tells you: it’s really easy to pretend that you do care. In fact, acting like you care is a skill you should always be fine-tuning because it will change everything for you.
From McDonald’s To The Corner Office
I rarely eat fast food anymore. The value just isn’t there, and getting the correct order feels like a coin toss. It’s a shame because fast food is supposed to be convenient and engineered to be delicious. I’d probably hit the drive-thru more often on a busy day if it wasn’t easier and cheaper to cook at home. Which is unfortunate, because there’s nothing better than a burger and fries after the day escapes you.
The last time I got McDonald’s, I was coming home from a gig, hadn’t eaten all day, and was dreaming about a Quarter Pounder like a cartoon character hallucinating a roasted turkey in the desert. I reached into the bag to do a quality check before leaving. My hand, the burger box, and the bag itself were soaked, like the whole thing had been dunked in a grease trap and served anyway. “No biggie, I’ll just go inside and get this fixed,” was my thought.
When I asked for new food that wasn’t drenched to the point of falling apart, the response I got was “that’s just the grease,” followed by blank stares. After about 10 minutes of trying to get my food and go home, my hangriness kicked in and I said, “I’m not asking you to give a sh*t, but could you at least pretend you do?” Which, honestly, is something we could all do better.
Mistakes happen. That’s fine. But the general sense of malaise I’m sensing, not just at McDonald’s but everywhere, is palpable. On one hand, I get it. The graveyard shift sucks, and I probably caught someone on an off day. But a simple “sorry about that, your concern is valid, we’ll fix it” goes a long way. Acting like you care costs nothing.
During my tenure as an office drone, I ran into high levels of not caring on a daily basis. So much so that when my fellow supervisors and I had to distribute annual performance bonuses, we often favored the employees who acted like they cared. They weren’t always killing it all the time, but they showed up, owned their mistakes, vowed to do better, and were generally pleasant to be around. The higher performers who outwardly didn’t care, on the other hand, brought everybody down with them because not caring in this kind of setting is rightfully contagious, making everybody else miserable and less productive in the process.
When I epically messed up an account thanks to my own carelessness, I’d hear the client out, explain what went wrong, and assure them safeguards would be put in place so it didn’t happen again.
The reality was I didn’t really care. We were all overworked, underpaid, and constantly reminded how expendable we were. But when I got pulled into a corner office to get chewed out, I treated the issue with urgency, smoothed things over, and moved on. The people who were past the point of saving would get defensive and combative, not realizing how quickly things could escalate against them.
Actually Caring Is Better, But We Can’t Do That All The Time
Anybody with young kids will tell you they have a sixth sense for unloading on you when your mental bandwidth is maxed. You’ll be on the side of the road changing a flat tire while they’re talking a mile a minute about their favorite Paw Patrol episode or one of their 25 classmates in excruciating detail. In those moments, you may not care at all, but you do care about your kids. That’s the difference. Getting on their level and letting them know they’re seen and heard is all it takes. Acting like you care when you have much more pressing issues in front of you still counts. It actually means the world to them. They just want to know you’re present and listening.
I’ve been driving around for a month with a rotten pinecone sticking out of my center console because my 4-year-old son gave it to me. I hate that pinecone. I want to throw it out the window every time I start the car, but every time we buckle up, he’s so proud of it and beyond happy that I kept it. Even though I’m pretty sure it’s moments away from releasing spiders.
The secret nobody wants to tell you is that showing up is 99.99999 percent of everything. Whether you’re in a band, a bowling league, or just roped into bringing something to the dinner party you were dragged along to, putting in even a small amount of effort and acting like you care gets noticed. That particular something you showed up to means something to somebody. Stepping outside of yourself is a superpower because it’s so easy to cancel plans. We’ve all done it. And we all should sometimes.
You can’t always be on your A game. That’s impossible. There will always be days where you couldn’t give a rat’s ass about anything. But acting like you care, even when you don’t, has a ripple effect that makes the day-to-day grind more tolerable for everyone around you. And more often than not, it ends up working in your favor too because people notice.
Entertainment
BTS bring Arirang to NYC and break down that chaotic Hooligan lyric
For the past four years, BTS has been something international fans watched from a distance, as the members completed their mandatory military service in South Korea. In the meantime, they pursued solo projects and toured globally as individuals, while the group itself lived on through archived livestreams and social media posts.
On Monday night in New York City, they were back on stage as seven.
By late afternoon, fans had already lined up along the downtown Seaport, bundled in layers and rain ponchos, waiting for BTS to take the stage at Pier 17. The group’s return to the U.S. wasn’t a surprise. It was a moment fans had been tracking, anticipating, and counting down to. Still, the energy felt surreal once it was actually happening.
Just days after their massive live comeback concert drew tens of thousands of fans to central Seoul, BTS arrived in New York for Spotify x BTS: Swimside, an invitation-only event that marked their first public appearance in the U.S. as a full group since 2022. It also doubled as the first time they performed songs from their new album, Arirang, stateside.
The setting did a lot of the work. Pier 17 overlooks the East River, with the Brooklyn Bridge stretching out on one side and lower Manhattan lighting up the other. Even in the cold, with wind cutting across the rooftop and temperatures dropping into the 30s, hundreds of fans packed the space, many selected as top Spotify streamers in the area. Even producer Diplo was spotted in the crowd.
Mashable’s social manager on the ground captured the scene as it unfolded. Fans traded freebies, compared signs, and documented everything in real-time across social media. The night already looked like something built for the timeline. The difference was that everyone was actually there in person.
The event opened with a Q&A moderated by Suki Waterhouse, pulling the group into a more relaxed, conversational mode. BTS spoke about making Arirang together, including the experience of living in the same house again while recording in Los Angeles for two months.
“‘Swim’ is a really special song for us,” Jin said through a translator, describing the lead single as a reminder to keep going through uncertainty. “It’s about not stopping, even when you’re facing tough times and emotional waves, to just keep moving forward like you’re swimming through it all… It reminds us to love our lives and accept whatever comes next, so that’s the message: We want to keep moving forward and not give up.”
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Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Spotify
The conversation quickly loosened. RM joked about Jung Kook’s suitcase never leaving the floor during their time living together. “Whenever we entered his room, we always had to step [around] the luggage,” the leader explained. Suga admitted he doesn’t like swimming. (But importantly, he does like “Swim.”) Jimin, answering a question about habits at home, casually told the crowd he’s usually naked when he walks in the door, sending the audience into a frenzy.
The group also shared details from the making of the album, including a standout lyric from “Hooligan” — “ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, hooligan” — which RM and Suga admitted they hate performing because of its tricky cadence. They broke it down as a rapid-fire “three-three-three” rhythm, then put Jung Kook on the spot to try it himself. He mostly succeeded, as expected from the group’s golden maknea.
The overall Q&A had the tone of a livestream, but louder. Immediate. Unfiltered in a way that only works when thousands of people are reacting at once.
During a short intermission, fans proved just how locked in they were. Arirang had only been out for three days, but the crowd sang along to every track playing over the speakers, lightsticks moving in sync.
When BTS returned to the stage, the focus snapped into place.
The group performed “Swim,” “2.0,” and “Normal,” marking their first live U.S. performances of the new album. The staging was simple, but the response wasn’t. Fans jumped, screamed, ha-ha-ha-ha’d, and waved their Army Bombs with every beat drop. RM, seated with a sprained ankle, delivered his verses from the side as the rest of the group moved through the choreography.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Spotify
“It’s really an honor for us to do our first stage in America here,” RM told the crowd. “It’s been four years, but now we’re here.”
In the audience, fans held up red signs that read “We Stayed!” A small gesture, but one that carried weight after the group’s hiatus. V spotted them right away, calling out to the crowd in recognition.
By the end of the night, the mood felt less like a one-off event and more like a reset point. BTS are back in the U.S., performing new music, standing in front of fans who never left.
For years, that connection lived mostly online. In streams, clips, and constant updates that filled the gap while the group was apart. At Pier 17, it felt different. Still documented, still destined for the feed, but grounded in something more immediate.
Not just something to watch. Something you had to be there for.
Entertainment
Peter Jackson Is Making A New Lord Of The Rings Movie, It's About Tom Bombadil
By Joshua Tyler
| Updated
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson is working on a new Lord of the Rings movie, and to make it, he’s teaming up with talk show host Stephen Colbert. This is not a joke or a drill; it’s happening, and they’re already writing the script.
Stephen Colbert, long known as one of Hollywood’s most obsessive Tolkien fans, is co-writing the film alongside his son, Peter McGee, and returning franchise writer Philippa Boyens. They’re using the working title The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past to refer to the project. It’s not clear yet if that will be the movie’s final title.
Here’s the announcement recorded by Peter Jackson…
The story they’re developing is based on six specific chapters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. Those chapters are numbers three through eight, often referred to as “Three Is Company through Fog on the Barrow Downs.” They involve Frodo first leaving the Shire, encountering his first Black Rider, and, most notably of all, encountering Tom Bombadil.
Tolkien fans will no doubt remember that Tom Bombadil was the biggest omission from the original Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson will now remedy that by making an entire, dedicated Tom Bombadil story.
Tom Bombadil is one of the strangest and most mysterious figures in The Lord of the Rings. Living in the Old Forest with his wife Goldberry, in Tolkien’s book, he appears cheerful and harmless, yet possesses immense, unexplained power. He’s so powerful that he’s totally unaffected by the One Ring.
Bombadil rescues the hobbits from multiple dangers, including the Barrow-downs, but exists completely outside the main conflict of Middle-earth, seemingly untouched by its wars, politics, or even its rules.
Peter Jackson is mostly involved in The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past on the production side, reuniting with key members of the original creative team, signaling that this isn’t a reboot but another attempt to mine unused Tolkien material with the same people who built the franchise the first time. This new project is slated for release after Lord of the Rings: Hunt For Gollum, a feature film in production under the direction of Lord of the Rings alum Andy Serkis.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 25, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you keep up with the news.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1018 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Obfuscate: BLUR, CLOUD, MUDDY, OBSCURE
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Magazines: FORTUNE, PEOPLE, SPIN, TIME
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Payment methods: CASH, CHARGE, CHECK, WIRE
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Units of volume with last letter changed: CUR, GALLOP, PING, QUARK
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
BTS bring Arirang to NYC and break down that chaotic Hooligan lyric
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